"Extra! Extra! Flood kills thousands in Jersey" Yeah, Rebecca thought to herself. Thousands of rats in a sewer leak. The people ate it up.

"Dat's real good. Ya know, You'se real good at dis, Rebecca." Jack said encouragingly. Rebecca turned away and rolled her eyes. 'If that boy gives me any more sappy encouragement...' she thought.

"Hey, dat's yer last pape. Ya sold all 30. Dat's great fer a beginah" That was it. Rebecca blew up. It was bound to happen sooner or later. And with her, it was always sooner. She whirled around to face Jack.

"I know dat was me last pape. Ya know how I knew dat, Jack? How 'bout 'cause I's da one who sold it. Da uddah tip I had was dat I'se ain't holdin' on ta no more papes. Why is dat? Hmmm. Let's t'ink. Maybe 'cause I sold 'em all. So ya can take all yer stupid encouragement and yer annoying liddle observations, and jus' keep 'em ta yerself, huh? I ain't no stupid liddle kid." Andy winced.

"Sawry. Jist tryin' ta help." Jack said coldly. Rebecca just glared at him, even though she knew what he said was true.

Jack sighed. He couldn't figure Rebecca out. He had been nothing but nice all day, and she wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of a smile.

"Well I'm gonna go to Newspaper Row. All da newsies go dere aftah dey finish wit' dere papes. Wanna come?" Jack invited, as a last attempt at kindness.

"Yeah!" Andy said loudly, trying too hard to cover up the awkward moment.

"No." Rebecca said firmly. Andy gave her a half annoyed, half pleading glare.

"I want ta make sure ya get settled inta dat lodgin' house. We oughtta go back to dat warehouse and get our stuff," she explained. It was a reasonable request. Not necessarily put the nicest way to put it, but reasonable none the less. Jack forced a smile, determined not to show his irritation at what was quite possibly the coldest girl he'd ever met.

"Alright. I'll give you a hand wit' your stuff." Jack followed them to the warehouse where their meager belongings were stashed, then Andy and Rebecca followed Jack to an old lodging house. After a brief chat with the old man, Kloppman, behind the desk, they went upstairs to the bunkroom. Andy was assigned to the bunk under Jack's, because it was the only free bottom bunk. Frost's bunk was opposite his under someone named Itey.

"So, why don't we find the others. I'll introduce you. They're great guys." Jack was determined.

"Naw. Youse guys can go on ahead wit'out me. I'll stay here an' get settled in." Rebecca said, much to Andy's disappointment. Andy went into the washroom for a minute, and Rebecca took the opportunity to pull Jack aside.

"If anyt'ing, and I mean anyt'ing happens ta 'im, I's gonna hold ya personally responsible. Ya hear me?" She said, in a hushed but deadly cold voice.

"Don't worry. I ain't gonna let 'im get hoit." Jack said warily. Sure, Andy needed a crutch to walk, but he was 12 years old and seemed perfectly capable of keeping up and looking after himself. Rebecca stared at Jack until he had to look away.

"Come on, Andy. Whadda ya say we get goin', huh?" Jack said loudly as soon as he heard Andy hobbling out of the washroom. Andy looked at Rebecca, who nodded in consent.

"Ya be careful, ya hear me? If anyt'ing happens, I'll be right 'ere. You come get me. Right?" Andy nodded solemnly. He loved his sister dearly, and didn't usually mind her overprotection of him, but sometimes he wished she'd lighten up a bit.

Rebecca pulled herself onto her bunk with a book, and watched as Andy and Jack left.

As soon as they hit the street, Jack couldn't stand it anymore. "Damn," he said with a whistle "dat sista of yours is really somethin' else. She always like dat?" Andy frowned and shook his head.

"Naw, she's been different lately. Like dere's somethin' wrong. She's mad, but I don't know who it's at. It ain't me, and don't worry, it ain't you. She's always been a bit too overprotective of me. 'Specially since Ma died. I pro'lly ain't da easiest person in da woild to look afta, but she's done 'er best. Maybe she's just mad 'cause she couldn't stop me from gettin' caught."

"Is dat all? I thought she was tryin' ta burn holes in me with 'er eyes 'r somthin'. 'Sides, what do ya need lookin' afta for? 'Cause of da crutch? Seems to me you can keep up just fine."

"Yeah, I do alright. Me leg still bothers me sometimes though."

"What happened to it, anyway?"

"When I was four, dere was dis wagon, see, an' da driver lost control of it, and I was in da way. Dey said I'd pro'lly never be able to walk again, but I showed them, huh? Anyway, Becca was supposed ta be watchin' me when it happened. Dere wasn't nuthin' she coulda done, but she still feels kinda responsible. I t'ink pop made 'er think he blamed 'er too."

"Dat's tough. What happened ta yer folks?"

"When I was 7 me ma got real sick from infectums or something."

"You mean infection?"

"Oh. Yeah, that must've been it."

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, s'alright. Me Pa was always a real joik. He smacked us around a lot. Becca always got it worse than me, though. An' once I got caught, Becca ran away, and she's been on 'er own ever since, 'til last week anyway. What about your parents?" Jack's eyebrows creased for a split second.

"Oh, dey're out west, lookin' fer a place ta live. Dey'll send fer me once dey've settled in. An' when I get older, I'll be a cowboy." This was Jack's new story. Only a few newsies knew the truth, but they knew how painful it was for him, so didn't bring it up. Years later, when Jack was still telling the same story, many other newsies caught on that it wasn't true, but since so many newsies lied about their own pasts, no one ever mentioned it.

"Wow, dat sounds fantastic! I hope dey send fer ya real soon. I wish I could become a cowboy."

"Sure ya could! Ya'd be on a horse all day, so yer leg wouldn't hold ya back…"

Jack and Andy spent the rest of the walk fantasizing about what their lives as cowboys would be like.

When they got to the square, many of the newsies looked up, greeting Jack and Andy. Andy made friends right away. Unlike his sister, he was very social and easy to get along with. He always had a smile on his face and a positive outlook on things. He knew that things were starting to turn around. And maybe once they felt more settled in to their new lives, Rebecca would relax some more and become the sister he used to know, because as much as she worried about him, the one thing she didn't know was how much Andy worried about her, and missed the happy, carefree sister that he used to know.